Facing Fatherhood: The Ashley Years
by Entrenched
Summary: Part of the Facing Fatherhood Collaboration Series. Now drabbles of Ashley growing up.  Part of my Almond Wafer's Universe.  Daddy Druitt and Baby Ashley.  Second Chapter up!
1. Baby in the Bathwater

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Sanctuary or its characters. Don't you just love these disclaimers!

**A/N**: These will be little snippets of John Druitt performing his fatherly duties with Ashley and his husbandly role with Helen. Also, this is part of the WWDD Facing Fatherhood Collaboration.

Stories made for _**WWDD Facing Fatherhood**_ in chronological (Ashley's age) order:

**_Facing Fatherhood: Taking care_** by Sonea27

_**Facing Fatherhood: Baby in the Bathwater **_by Entrenched

_**Facing Fatherhood: Bedtime Stories**_ by Fell4

_**Facing Fatherhood: Five Hours in Ye Old London (Chapter 8)**_ by cabinet of curiousities

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><p>Twist.<p>

'_Damn, it's too hot._'

Another twist.

'_Now it's too cold._'

Twist again.

'_Perfect! Bloody hell…there's too much._'

It had been two weeks since the birth of their lovely daughter Ashley Druitt. John had taken the day off to help Helen with the responsibilities of taking care of Ashley and to lessen his wife's stress. He had noticed her haggard looking appearance the last few days and had requested time off from the office. At the moment, their daughter was still breast feeding and so John had found himself quite useless during the night when Ashley needed to be fed. He tried coming home as early as was possible for him; however, aside from changing the diapers and relieving Ashley during her 'fussy time', John had found he was still relatively useless.

And so here he was. Trying to bathe his little girl and the water just would not cooperate with him. First it was too hot. Then it was too cold. Now there was just too much of it in the bathing basin. His first tentative steps into helping Helen with Ashley and it wouldn't do to scald the baby, or drown her.

Cradling his little angel snuggly in one arm, John tipped the basin slightly to decrease the water to the perfect level. Satisfied, he reached for the baby shampoo and poured what looked to be the correct amount into the water.

Helen had cautioned him earlier that he should remove the diaper at the last possible moment before placing her in the basin. With gentle care, he lifted his daughter over the _perfect_ bath and removed the diaper.

The moment the cool air touched her bum, Ashley made a contribution to the body of liquid beneath her.

John paused, his daughter suspended over the basin, as he processed the situation with his usual aplomb. From what John could recall in secondary education chemistry, even the introduction of the traces amount of contaminant necessitated one to start again from the beginning. However, this was not a complex chemical experiment that required delicateness or precision. Surely such a tiny contribution to such a large body of water would do little to influence the overall mixture. And considering the addition of lavender scented baby shampoo, Ashley's little slip could hardly be considered a contaminant in the fragrant swirl of warmth.

John looked into the twin crystal blue eyes of his little angel and quirked a brow in question. Ashley's response was to stare directly into his eyes in return and yawn. Clearly she had no qualms or care about the situation.

Shrugging, he proceeded to lower his baby into the basin.

"_Please_ tell me you aren't about to _do_ what I think it is you are about to _do_?"

John's head whipped to the side and found Helen, arms crossed and infamous glare in place, standing at the threshold of the bathroom door.

He shook his head vigorously in denial of the accusation.

"Uh…no…of course not…?"

She arched a dark brow and gave him one of her scathing stares.

Dropping his head in capitulation, John pulled Ashley towards him and pressed her against his chest, "I'll draw a fresh bath."

He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Helen remained situated at the door, watching his every movement. He was rather offended that she would not take his word. Finally, he tipped the basin and watched as the water swirled down the drain of their sink.

When the last drops of liquid fell from the basin, he heard his wife's footsteps fade into their bedroom. Sighing in resignation at his fate, John re-commenced with preparing his daughter's bath.

Twist.

He dipped his hand into the water and winced.

'_Damn…it's too hot._'

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><p><strong>AN**: What do you guys think so far? I think most, if not all, fathers try to take the short-cut route. There's no way of escaping the critical eye of a mother!

Please read and review!


	2. Vaccinations and Demon Children

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Sanctuary.

**A/N**: Vaccinations are very important things in a baby's life. And so, here we are in a small gathering for tiny little Ashley.

Enjoy.

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><p>"Let me hold <em>it<em>."

"No."

"Come on, Johnny! Just let me hold it."

"I said _no_, Nikola."

The miffed physicist threw his hands up into the air in absolute petulance at the constant denial of the bald lawyer in holding the baby. John merely rolled his eyes and cooed at his little angel as she tried unsuccessfully to grab his finger as it wiggled in front of her face. At two months, Ashley had received her first doses of vaccinations the day prior, allowing Helen and he to finally invite their friends over to view the little bundle for the first time since the hospital visits over two months ago.

"I don't understand why he won't let me hold it," Nikola stated with an air of indignance.

"It could be the simple fact that you keep referring to her as an 'it'," commented James Watson who currently lounged on one of the white living room couches watching the debacle in front him occur.

With a wave, Nikola dismissed the statement before crossing his arms and tilting his head to the side in thought.

"Johnny's just scared that it might like me more than him and he's the father," he regarded the taller male with a smirk, "I would think your years of jealousy would have been left back in our Oxford days."

Before John could return with a witty comment, Helen breezed into the room carrying a tray of fruits, cheese, and crackers, followed in by Nigel whose arms were also laden with a large tray of food and brown bags.

"Thank you for coming with me Nigel," she pointed to the granite countertops in the kitchen, "you can place those there."

Doing as he was told, Nigel unloaded his arms before helping Helen of her own inconveniences. Nikola slipped past the two and rummaged through the brown bags.

"Wonderful! You brought the wine!" he crowed in delight as he pulled out a bottle of 1974 Chateau Montelena. "Oh Helen, you do know the way to my heart," he gushed as he appraised the year.

Knowing better than to engage Nikola in any sort or verbal play, the man could turn any small comment into an innuendo, she simply nodded her head and moved to prepare plates for her guests.

"Sorry for the rather…processed selection of food, gentlemen."

"Think nothing of it, my dear. We know you both have been busy. What with Ashley and all," James stated as he moved off the couch to help Helen in the kitchen.

Nigel wandered off towards John and patted the recent father's back. "Alright there mate?"

"Quite," John responded with a whimsical smile as Ashley gave a tiny sneeze, "well bless you, my little one."

Nigel smiled serenely as he watched the little girl in his arms. "She's a pretty little lass there, mate. You did good, John."

"You'll have to offer congratulations to Helen, not me Nigel. Between Helen and myself, I'm afraid she's the better looking one."

"Thank God for small miracles," interrupted Nikola as he poured himself a healthy share of the Chardonnay, "can you imagine if it had Johnny's mug," with that said he shuddered at the thought.

Effectively ignoring that jab at his features, John returned his attentions to Nigel, "care to hold her, old boy?"

"I would love that, but are you sure?" Nigel opened his arms to receive the little bundle.

"Most definitely," John gently transferred Ashley into Nigel's arms, "besides, you're going to need the practice since Anna is nearly due."

Nigel chuckled and looked down at the fair haired little girl now settled comfortably in his arms. Ashley looked at him with curious little blue eyes before they fluttered closed, not at all concerned with who was carrying her as long as they kept rocking her.

"That's not fair! He let Nigel hold it!" Nikola accused with a healthy dose of shock interjected in his voice. "Helen, he wouldn't let me hold it at all."

"Nikola, my daughter is a _her_, not an _it_," Helen corrected before turning to John, "why won't you let him hold Ashley?"

A look of horror crossed John's face, "I wouldn't let him anywhere near any child, let alone my own!"

Nigel laughed at the comment, momentarily disturbing Ashley's peace. The little blonde scrunched her face in distaste before settling once again in her human arm cradle. "Sorry lass."

"Helen let me hold it…her," Nikola corrected as he pointed in Ashley's direction with the hand that cradled the glass of white wine.

Sighing, Helen went to retrieve Ashley from Nigel and made her way to Nikola.

"Helen! You can't honestly mean to let him hold her," John could not help the look of abhorrence upon his features.

"You're being dramatic, John."

"I'm being pragmatic," he countered with a scowl as Nikola practically glowed with glee as Helen positioned Ashley into his arms.

Once her girl was settled she turned to John and admonished him, "see, nothing to worry about. " She returned to the kitchen with John right behind her. "Besides we're both here. He can hardly do any damage with both of us present."

"This is Nikola we are talking about."

A roll of the eyes was Helen's only response before she changed the subject, "did you feed her?"

"Of course I did."

"How many ounces?"

"The bag you filled with your milk had 5 ounces in it. She drank 4."

"Did you burp her?"

"Well…I…you see…"

"John! She'll get colic and vomit if you don't burp her."

"I tried burping her. I patted and rubbed her back for half an hour and nothi-"

"Oh dear _God_!"

Two heads sharply turned to look at the source of the outcry. There standing in the middle of the living room with Ashley held at arm's length away was Nikola covered in what could only be described as baby milk vomit, a look of disgust clearly formed over his face.

Ashley smiled and cooed at the physicist, finding the entire situation amusing now that her stomach felt better.

John held in his smirk as he moved to scoop Ashley out of Nikola's trembling arms. James and Nigel were not quite as controlled in holding in their amusement. John quickly grabbed baby wipes and began to gently swipe at his daughter's face.

"That…_thing_ just puked all over me!" Nikola remained immobile as he stared down at his ruined custom shirt and vest. "I can't believe it puked on me!"

Helen quickly grabbed his hand and maneuvered him towards the laundry room, "come now Nikola, a little cleaning and your clothes will be good as new."

"Vomit! It vomited on me!" He followed Helen towards the laundry room but paused before turning to glare at the innocent looking girl now settled in her father's lap, "leave it to John to spawn a demon child."

When the two disappeared down the hallway, John looked down at Ashley and inspected her clothes for any splatter. Finding none, he turned his head to make sure that Helen and Nikola where no longer in the vicinity before looking down again at his little angel. He lifted Ashley into the air and slowly brought her down to his face and rubbed his nose against her tiny one.

"That's my girl," he praised adoringly.

James and Nigel snorted into their glasses of wine.

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><p><strong>AN**: Aww, poor Nikola getting puked on. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!


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